Fridays will be different....Thanks to Samantha!

Friday again! Time to pause the kvetching for a day and shout out our thanks! If you haven’t been following and are new here, I KVELL on Fridays instead of kvetching! The first Friday kvell was done by me and the second by Janine Ripper.

Samantha

 This week I have the lovely Samantha Bangayan to join us in doing her thankful duties! I met Samantha through a blogging club and she soon became one of my favorite bloggers. She blogs at What Little Things about her life in Huancayo, Peru.  

So here’s what “Sammy” has to say about her Fridays:

I haven't been spending the time to be thankful for all that I've been blessed with these days, so I was ecstatic when Hajra started celebrating Fridays this way and what an honor to be invited to share my "thankfuls" too! My first warm "Thank You" goes to Hajra for being such a supportive and encouraging friend!

Other tidbits I've been thankful for this week?

 Huancaino wear

1. I am thankful that they sell Pringles and Nutella in the one supermarket here in Huancayo. This is a new phenomenon and I don't know how I survived without them.

2. I am thankful that when my kitty, Fénix, bites and scratches me, I only get real wounds around once a week. He is so vicious for an innocent-looking 7-month-old! Any cat training advice would be greatly appreciated!

3. I am thankful my partner agreed that gifts for his birthday should be gifts for me too. We bought an electric heater for his birthday a couple weeks ago that I now use right by my desk.

4. I am thankful that the rooster on the roof sings cockle-a-doodle-do all day, so I never feel like I'm alone. When the kitty refuses to stay in my lap, I can always rely on the various sounds and rhythms around my apartment building to keep me company. If it's not the rooster, there are always other cats meowing or salsa and reggae ton playing at the bar just a building away.

5. I am thankful that I learned to braid my own hair into pigtail braids because it helps me fit in with the traditional look of women in the Central Andes. Now I just need to tan a bit more, so I don't look so gringa!

So, that was the lovely Samantha with her kvellings! Say hi to her and tell her what a wonderful person she is! 


Join in, tell us what you were thankful about this week?

Fridays will be different....Thanks to Janine Ripper!

So just last Friday I started a new weekly routine where, every Friday, instead of kvetching we will be kvelling (Thanks Roy for teaching me that word!). Yes, if you haven't read it, then do it right now! Every Friday I will be featuring a blogger who gets to be thankful for something! Last Friday, being the first, I started off being thankful.This Friday, I get to feature my favorite blogger, Janine Ripper.

I met Janine through a discussion on LinkedIn and from then on, it has been such an honor to read her blog, her reflections and about her beautiful journey through the crazy thing called life. 

So featuring Janine, the first blogger for my Thankful Fridays! Here's what she says: 

My blogging buddy and partner in crime - Hajra Khatoon - recently came up with a new way to celebrate Friday’s. For this I am thankful for. I mean, I love Friday’s - or rather, I used to. Lately, my Friday’s at work consist of a meeting from about 10.30am until whenever it finishes (the first week it was 6.30-ish pm)...of which for the last 4 weeks has left me feeling shattered for most of the weekend. I am endeavoring to change that, therefore, in the wise words of Hajra, here are my top reasons for what and why I am thankful for in recent times!

Janine at the Beach
Pic taken by her dear friend,
Ambreen Beg

1.       Hajra - If it wasn’t for Hajra I may have given up on blogging. I mean, we live in different countries, have never met, have never talked, but have struck up a great friendship and supportive blogging / writing relationship, of which I hope continues for a long time into the future.

2.       The beach - Over the past month I’ve managed to get out of the house on weekends with my Mum or friends, to hang around some of our local beaches. Of course, we are officially in winter here in Australia, but the days are still mostly stunning, and have presented some amazing opportunities to break in my SLR camera, whilst also experiencing some ‘natural’ therapy at by the sea side (the waves, breeze, smell, fresh air, peace...).

3.       My beautiful friends - I am truly blessed to have some of the most amazing, genuine, down to earth, beautiful souls as friends. I am one lucky person.

4.       Opportunities -  I decided recently to take this writing thing a whole lot more seriously.  I mean, I have always wanted to write, but I have never believed in myself.  Something seems to have changed in my thinking of late - I think it’s what some people call ‘confidence’ or ‘self belief’ (something I have lacked my whole life in pretty much everything). This has led to doors opening, and opportunities being presented to me.  Although I have also put myself out there to be noticed...which is what I probably should have been doing all along?

5.       Nature - As I write this post, I am watching a David Attenborough documentary on Gorillas. Even with their bulbous bottoms and big heads I think they are amazing. There is so much beauty out there in the world.


So that was Janine with her Thankful Friday! And she is thankful for me...Yippeee! See, that's how you get featured on my blog!

If you want to be featured, tell me! Please, just be as lovely as the amazing Janine!

Weird Weight Loss Techniques!

Now who doesn’t deal with weight problem, or hasn’t dealt with it like ever. If you are the one with “high metabolism”, “I eat everything, but I have don’t put on weight” stop saying it like it is a bad thing. It is a boon; ask us heavy people, we put on weight every time we breathe.


Now every time I am supposed to get on the scale, I have this sudden surge of Blood Pressure. So what works? How does one lose weight? Though you could find a million tips on doing that, here my personal favorites. Though they might be the direct ways of losing weight, they sure will get you up and going:


1. HIRE A CRAZY DOG: Now don’t worry, dogs are wonderful but every time you plan to jog and are feeling lazy, hire a huge fellow (Dog I mean!) and make him bark and chase you across the street. And yes, pay him in advance for a couple of rounds!

2. JENNIFER LOPEZ POSTERS: Yes, boys have them for totally different reasons, but put them up all around you for motivation!


3. FULL LENGTH MIRRORS: Have them fixed all over your house. One look at them will keep you squatting and doing pushups for an hour at least!


4. IMAGINE THE WORST: Every time you reach for a bag of chips, think dark circles, hair fall, acne, pimples, and love handles. If it doesn’t get you running, it might help in putting back the bag of chips and picking up an apple instead.


5. MEDICAL BILLS: Estimate the cost of fighting obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart problems and maybe even liposuction. Yes, it is over a five digit number. Maybe more!


So there you go, probably won’t get you losing oodles of weight but will get you running and going for some time at least!


P.S For more serious stuff on weight loss and health care, do check out these amazing ladies: Maureen of Making it All Fit, she does have the best to “make it fit” and Melissa Austin from Bye Bye Fat Girl; love the way she overcomes her challenges and added bonus: she is a personal trainer and the wonderful Carrie Tucker at Heart Failure Solutions.


Have you tried weird, fun ways to lose weight? I would love to hear them and whether they worked or didn’t. Kvetch!

I GOT AN AWARD!!

So this amazing red head - Janine Ripper - has given me one of the best gifts of the blogging journey – The Versatile Blogger Award. For bloggers, that is like yay!; for those who don’t know any better – all awards are nice, let’s just keep it at that and be happy for me!

There are rules though. I have to now “bestow” the honor onto seven others and write down seven random things about myself!  This doesn’t seem to hard, I am good at ranting! So here goes …

Seven random things about myself:

1. My immune system is a total mess. I get a cold every time the weather changes. I thought about this because I am sick at the moment!
2. I am a total junk food lover. No amount of healthy eating facts can deter my love for it.
3. I talk way too much. If you know me personally, you are definitely nodding your head vigorously at this! Yes, way too much and too fast!
4. I don’t like cricket (the game). I thought of this because with the Cricket World Cup going on and the fact that I am so not interested in it despite hailing from a cricket – crazy country and a cricket crazy family. So nowadays, I am surrounded by this “unwanted” cricket frenzy!
5. I will probably be treated for shoe obsession sometime in the near future. I have never come empty handed out of a shoe store! Surprisingly, I HATE shopping otherwise!
6. As a kid, I was scared of water and thus never learnt how to swim properly. To this day, I can just do it to the point of saving myself from drowning!
7. I love singing and I have the worst singing voice ever! But that doesn’t stop me…I still sing out loud!

Ok, so now I have to pick my seven others to pass this on to. So here goes:

1. Heather Fonseca at Heather’s Design Blog
2. Inka at Glamour Granny Travels
3. Veronica Campos – Hallstrom at Club Creative Studio
4. Cathy Jones at Just My Thoughts
5. Linda Esposito at Talk Therapy Biz
6. Bonnie Copeland at My Rivendell
7. Michael at OutMaturity

Ok guys, for those who have to pass it on there are two rules : One, say seven things about yourself. Two, share the award with seven other people.

Don’t you just love blogging!

WHAT IS YOUR "THREE SOMETHING BAD"?

I wasn’t feeling well a few days back and it got me nastier than ever! And I have bad writers block during bad health times. And I got nastier (yes, even more). And suddenly I was reminded of an activity I was introduced to in my first psychology class. Don’t worry, no Freudian philosophy, just a simple activity to get to know oneself better.

As we sat there waiting in anticipation of what a first psychology class will bring, in walked a pretty Professor and after the preliminary introduction she asked us to rip out a piece of paper and do this. Write down three good qualities about yourself, more if you can come up with it. Oh, what fun we had…. Honest, truthful, friendly, sociable, jovial, fun – loving, never say die attitude…plenty came up with up to ten adjectives to prove what a “fun” and “nice” person we are!

Then came the hard part… yes, it always follows the fun. We were instructed to rip out papers again and write three bad qualities about you… anything which you don’t like about yourself and something “bad”… Oh we all had a tough time. Chewing pencils, scratching heads, empty glances, peeping into others ripped blank pieces of paper. After the given five minutes, everyone ended up with a maximum of two or less “something bad” about their selves. When questioned, some responded this way: I might be a bit nasty but only when someone irks me to do so; I might be short tempered but why do people make me angry?

We had learnt our lesson… before psychoanalyzing others, learn about yourself…know your strengths, but know your weaknesses better and work on them!

As for me these are my three “something bad” – I get pretty nasty, I complain a lot (quite obvious from my blog….read more of it!) and I talk way too much.

So tell me, what is your “three something bad”; throw in your three “something good” to make yourself feel better!